Former Topeka Resident Sentenced for First Degree Felony Murder and Aggravated Burglary

Douglas County District Attorney Charles Branson announces former Topeka resident Archie L. Robinson, 30, was sentenced today in the Division Five courtroom of the Honorable Paula B. Martin following the March jury trial for the 2014 fatal shooting of Mr. Patrick D. Roberts.

The Court sentenced Mr. Robinson to lifetime imprisonment with the possibility of parole after 20 years for the first degree felony murder charge and 57 months for the aggravated burglary charge.  The 57 months will run concurrent to his lifetime sentence.  The Court also ordered if Mr. Robinson is released from prison that he must register as a violent offender for 15 years.

The case co-defendant Dustin Walker, 30, is scheduled on May 4 to be retried for the first degree felony murder charge after in February of this year a jury hung on its verdict on that charge.  The same jury convicted Mr. Walker of aggravated burglary.  Mr. Walker is presumed innocent of the murder charge until and unless he is proven guilty and the charge merely contains the allegation of criminal conduct.

Filing of these cases was the result of the March 8, 2014 dispatch of officers with the Lawrence Police Department (LPD) to the 2400 block of Cedarwood Avenue in reference to a shooting at a residence.  Through LPD’s exhaustive investigation, they determined two men, later to be identified as Mr. Robinson and Mr. Walker pushed in the victim’s front door, charged into his bedroom and demanded to know, “Where is it?”  Within seconds, the victim was shot in the abdomen.  The victim’s brother and one of the suspects wrestled for control of the gun.  The gun discharged a second time and a bullet lodged into the ceiling of the townhome.  Mr. Robinson and Mr. Walker lost control of the gun and fled the area on foot.  Mr. Robinson and Mr. Walker were captured by LPD officers shortly after the crime, in close proximity to the victim’s home.  Mr. Roberts was quickly transported via ambulance to Lawrence Memorial Hospital, but tragically, he was pronounced dead upon arrival.  To contribute to the tragic nature of the event, not only was the victim’s brother present during the murder, but the victim’s teenage son and his mother were also witnesses to the crime.

The case was investigated by the Lawrence Police Department and the trials were prosecuted by Senior Assistant District Attorney Amy McGowan and Assistant District Attorney Alice Walker.

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